Processing facilities are often managed using process control systems. Example processing facilities include manufacturing plants, chemical plants, crude oil refineries, and ore processing plants. Among other operations, process control systems typically manage the use of motors, valves, and other industrial equipment in the processing facilities.
In conventional process control systems, controllers are often used to control one or more processes that are occurring or being implemented. The controllers could, for example, monitor the operation of the industrial equipment, provide control signals to the industrial equipment, and generate alarms when malfunctions are detected. Conventional process control systems are often responsible for monitoring and controlling numerous process variables, which generally represent characteristics of the process being monitored and controlled. Process variables typically include measurable process characteristics, as well as calculated values (which are often based on measurable process characteristics) used during process control. Human operators are then often responsible for monitoring and adjusting the controllers in the process control systems, thereby helping to ensure that the controllers are accurately modeling and controlling the processes.